Am I screwed? (Xj750 Seca broken)

I'm not entirely knowledgeable on motorcycles I just know a bit. I noticed my motorcycle making barely any power today so I brought it back to take a look and found this cracked.



So uh... Idk what I'm looking at but is this severe?

 

Doesn't look severe to me, when I opened it nothing fell out nor can I see any loose chunks.

Still doesn't explain my lose of power, no I don't see any other holes in my engine and that crack could possibly be from the previous owner dropping it?

Checked all spark plugs to check spark and all good.

If the crack shouldn't be a problem what troubleshooting methods should I use to insure my motorcycle is in good running condition?

 

If it’s just that cover that’s cracked then you are fine. Replacements can be had for a song and a dance.

loss of power is a different matter…

 

What could possibly be the problems?

 

Spark plugs behave differently when not under compression. Make sure all 4 header pipes are about the same temp, be careful not to burn yourself. A quick "slap" on them is usually wnough to chwck for even temperature. If one lr more are noticeably cooler, then you know which cylinder(s) are causing the issue.

 

All 4 are hot

 

Is the pick up with the orange and black wire damaged? Not sure if it's sitting right might just be the camera angle.

 

Nope, nothing seems to be broken.

Bike is still not running good, can't get it to start anymore.

 

If you have been cranking the engine and the battery voltage has dropped below 10 volts you will have no sparks at the plugs. You need 10 volts to operate the transistors in the TCI unit. Getting a spark now with the plugs out of the engine doesn't mean you have a spark under compression when the plugs are in. Do you have a multimeter you can set to 20 volts put the probes on the battery wires and read the voltage when you press the starter button?

 

You can also try and start the bike using a car battery and jump leads, keep the car engine off.

 

I got it running again only seems to be piston 1 and 4 are going but 2 and 3 aren't. (According to the headers)

 

I guess a very loose connection made this cable get undone ending up in two out of four cylinders running.



I was really contemplating if engines are my forte since I'm still learning lol. Glad I didn't give up.

 

Glad you solved it. And learned something new. None of us started out as experts. It's a learning process.